Huuufff... puuuffff... sorry, can't talk... too much... I'm running… chased by my siblings… uuufff… because… I want to get… huuuffff… inside the Woody Forest!
"JACK, STOP!"
"COME BACK, LITTLE BROTHER!"
This is… pant… what I'm hearing… gasp… I'm not looking… uufff… behind… but hey! I reached… the gates! They are… huff… huge! Well, judging from my perspective, anyway…
"DON'T GO INTO THE FOREST, JACK!"
The bars… uufff… their gap between them don't look as small, as I thought it'd be. Maybe if I can squeeze just well enough… nnnrrrggghhh… uurrrggghh…
"NOOOO, JACK!"
There! Yeeess! I passed the gate! However, I didn't stood there to celebrate: I start dashing again! The idea that my relatives would find a way, to get past those gates… made my heart pump a little faster than usual. I didn't even let myself have the time, to see the trees and all the other flora around.
I ran on a dirty road and
THUMP!
… yyeeeeooouuccchh! Buueeeeehhh! My right knee starts burning again! S-sniff… but this time… there wasn't anyone near me… booo hu hu hu huuuuu! S-sob… no… I can't cry… not now… I must go… the pond is waiting for me… s-sniff!
I got up and start walking, instead of running… s-sob. I took a look around… and… for some reason, I was staring at the trees more than the rest. I started focusing my eyes more, because… something weird is going on!
The trees seem to be a lighter color than before. I tilted my head, on my left… and then I finally realized: the trees are becoming transparent! I could almost not see them anymore… no, scratch that… I can't see them anymore! No more trees! I stopped in my tracks, opening slowly my mouth.
Actually there aren't any bushes, rocks or anything related around! What's going on?! Where's the forest?! … … I… I'm suddenly in a metallic corridor. It's dusty, with some small lamps on the ceiling, which gave the place a bit of light.
There wasn't anything interesting here: just a long corridor… … I was trembling. I quickly look back, to find the path completely covered in the darkness! Uuuuhhhmmm… no thanks, I'll follow the light instead! I begin to walk, under those lamps…
The more steps I made, the more I was trembling! My heart was pumping really fast… and all I'm seeing is just lamps. And what about hearing? Nothing! Only my breathings… … oh, I got a crossroad! To the left… to the right… or forward? Hmm… which way feels saf
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
YIKES! W-what was that?! … t-that was the scariest scream I ever… …
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
I run to the right, as fast as I could! B-Behind me, t-there is… … NO, I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT IT!
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
I-I can tell it's a Squid! A giant flying Squid! But the face… t-the face is… UUUH, WHO CARES! I wanna get out of here!
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
I couldn't stop crying… my heart seems to pop out of me, at any moment! WHERE'S THE EXIT?! … wait a minute! I found a door! I grabbed the handle and rushed inside! Oh, oh… PITCH BLACK! EVERYWHERE! And the growling... i-it was getting closer…
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
…
…
…
…
…
…
Silence… that's the only thing I'm hearing. Actually… I think I'm smelling something too. Wait… t-that's… ehm… I… I inked in my pants. Great! Just, awesome! Like this couldn't get any worse…! Uuugghh… my legs were in a weird position and I could feel my stomach hurting a lot.
W-what I'm going to do, now…? I want to hug mommy again… and daddy… and Jessie! WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS?! I was so happy with my family… but noooo, I had to take this stupid journey just to be big! I never felt this small, in my whole life…
A-all right… y-you know what? I don't want to pass the rest of my life, hiding in the darkness... since it's making me ink even more! I'll leave this room… whatever it was! Slowly… carefully opening the door…
Creeeaaakkk!
No, don't creak Mr. Door! That thing might hear…! … … peeking left… peeking right… … I think the way is clear. I HOPE that the way is clear… … so, I walk down the corridor following the path of lamps. Uhm… let's be honest: I'm tiptoeing in a very odd way. Thanks, messy pants!
This silence… it makes me shudder in a whole new level! It m-might be behind me…! … no… it's not. I… I hope. Those corridors a-are looking the same now… is this a maze? W-where I'm going? Where's the exit?!
… another crossroad. Coooool… … curses.
I leaned against the wall, to the left. I peaked a little bit: I couldn't see that monster… … t-though, I-I'm hearing s-some s-strong breathings… t-they seem to get c-closer, too! TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT! I ran in that direction, feeling the chills down to my back!
The breathings… I-I can hear them all over the place! T-they are everywhere! I s-swear, it seems t-they are so c-close to me too
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Pant pant pant… pant pant pant…
"HEEEELLLPPP MEEEEEEE! MOOOOMMMYYYY! DDAAAAADDDYYYYY!"
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
H-hey, but there's a hole on the wall! Pant… pant… must… get… inside…
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
YES! With a swift movement, I slipped under the hole while staying with the belly down!
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
The monster is too big to reach me! Prrrrr! Serves you right, bully!
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
I was crawling inside this mini-tunnel. It was even more dustier than the outside, with spider webs all over the place! Luckily, the owners weren't around… except a dead one: yuck! Although, I think I have to be fair about this whole big-small business.
You know what? Being small isn't something THAT bad at all… actually, I'm quite enjoying the idea! Yeah! Staying tiny lets me get anywhere I want! And I could play Squid Riding everyday… as well as Mini-Wrestling, with Jessie! She would beat me up, with awesome cuddles and rad hugs! Now THAT… is cool!
I can't wait to get out of this place…! Once I do, I'm going to play that game with my huge sister! Screw Ink Splat: my siblings can't imagine the benefits of the smallest brother in the whole town! … uuugghh, I'm getting tired of this hole! I keep sneezing, with all this dust coming towards me!
Wait… I reached its end! Great! But… where I'm now? It seems to be a weird room: there's a large column on the center, which is flashing slowly and after some time. There are giant monitors with all sort of words on them… don't ask me what they mean, though: I didn't even know what they mean!
What my eyes were seeing more, is this giant lever near the column. Maybe if I pull that thing, something nice will happen! I jumped on the lever and I started
BAAAMMM!
YIKES! The door! … OH NO! That beast knocked the door down! I was looking at his face, trembling again. The eyes… t-there weren't any eyes! Just black pitch holes… a-and the rest of the body… w-was giving me a huge pain in the stomach. I-I could feel something w-was coming up from my throat.
"... don't pull the lever, you fool…" H-he was talking! "… if you do… you'll destroy the universe... the planets… your world… your dears… and even you… will cease to exist… the void will rule, forever…"
...
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
"… I'm the guardian of the cosmos… and you are between the dimensions of the reality…"
…
"I was born in the void… with the task, to give an identity… to its imagination… … long I worked, to fulfill this little dream… and now… I was rejected here… into this prison of mazes… doing nothing, but to protect that precious lever…"
…
"… you still don't talk…? Are you… scared…?"
…
"… I'm very old… I lost the count of my ages… I'm nothing but a ghost, chasing down little munchers like you… a few of them, found their unintentional way to get here… but you're the first one, to ever reached that lever…"
…
"… I can see in your eyes… you're a very good child… you don't deserve to end your young days… not now, at least… so, I decided to send you back home… yes… I can do that…"
…
"Follow me, now… I shall bring you to the exit… and make you forget this dreadful experience…"
"NO! I'LL NOT FOLLOW YOU, MONSTER!"
"… … I see… … I think you need some time… to ponder about it… … I'll leave now… … whatever you do… don't pull the lever…"
… the monster… was flying back into obscurity…
…
GRRREEEEEEEEEUUUUUUHHH!
AAAAAAHHH!
Clang.
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…
…
…
.
… eyes… someone's eyes were slowly opening… those were very unfocused, so everything appeared blurry. Looking back, it's possible to identify who opened them: Bars. He was lying on a metallic ground, near an old-looking lever.
He stood there for a while… then, he slowly tried to get up. He succeeded, although he was tilting to his left and right a bit, while looking at one point of this dusty room, with his eyes almost closed. He took several big breathes… and seems to get a more correct and stable posture.
"… w-what-a… w-where am I…?" He thinks in his head, while looking around and scratching his head. "… this place… … did I saw it, somewhere…? It looks so familiar…"
The boy looks down, staring at a weird metallic creature resembling a Squid, with the head facing the ground… he lowers his right eyebrow, as he was attempting to pick this item up. He turns it, to see its face… but once he did, Bars screams so loudly that he could wake up an entire world!
The boy drops it and quickly leans against the wall, watching the Squid-looking being from afar. He starts breathing rapidly, his heart was beating really fast, his forehead was covered in sweat, his eyes were appearing more watery and eventually, tears came out from them.
The monster wasn't moving… not even a single inch. Bars was slowing down his breaths and starts running away from the room. He passes through the fallen door and ventures into a corridor, lighted slightly by small ceiling lamps.
Some considerable time passed, but finally Bars was able to find the way out, after getting lost through the maze of lights: he didn't even know how he found the exit! The boy sighed, smiling a bit, at the first glance of the trees and bushes. Although, he was still trembling a bit…
All the sudden, unrecognizable noises seem to come deep from the forest. They become louder and louder: looks like heavy step sounds. Bars prepares his fists, putting them near his face. He tilted his back a bit forward and began to look around himself.
"There he is! We found him!"
Bars jumps a little, screaming for a short time and turning in the direction, where that voice came. The boy watches an Inkling man, wearing clothes with patches and holes, in some parts.
He was followed by another Inkling man, wearing different clothes, but with a similar amount of patches and holes overall. Right behind the second man, there was an Inkling woman which was hard to fully see.
"Hey kid, put down the guard. We're not enemies!" The first man was moving his hands back and forth.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" Bars lowers his head more, behind his fists.
"W-we are your siblings! Do you remember us, Jack?" The woman shows up, grabbing both her hands and raising both her eyebrows, pulling them together.
Bars didn't say a thing…
"Jack, come on! You must remember us…" The second man steps ahead, opening his arms.
"I'm not Jack! I don't even know someone with that name! I'm called Bars, pal!"
The three adults expanded their eyes and open their mouth.
"Y-you don't recall anything? Nothing at all?!" The first man shouts.
"What are you even talking about, dude…? What's this screwball you're pulling off, huh? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Bars lowers his guard, frowning and gritting his teeth, while still holding his fists.
"… the boy doesn't really remember a thing." The second man shakes his head, slowly. "I think we should start explaining something, to him…"
"I have a better idea: let's bring him to dad. He's the only one that knows the truth." The first man said.
"Uhm… ok! If the kid agrees to come with us…" The second man looks at Bars.
He frowned even more than before.
"How can I trust a bunch of old people? This could be a trap, ya know!" Bars folded his arms.
"I can demonstrate our innocence." The woman speaks. "First of all, did you notice what do you have on your right knee?"
The boy checks on it, immediately: he saw two medical patches on his knee.
"Whoa, man! W-who put those patches?"
"Give me the chance to explain… I'm sure you'll understand everything and believe in us." The woman sighed loudly.
It all started from someone, which asked for help…